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Miri (episode)
The Enterprise discovers an Earth-like planet that was devastated by a horrific degenerative disease and is now populated entirely by impossibly old children. Summary Responding to an Earth-type distress signal many light years from Earth, the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|USS Enterprise]] discovers a planet that is an exact copy of the Earth. It has the same mass, circumference, density, and atmosphere. Even the topology is identical. Beaming down, the landing party of Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Rand and two security men discover architecture like that of Earth, circa 1960. But with debris in the streets and evidence that decay has been ongoing for at least several centuries, and that the distress signal is automated. Then McCoy is attacked by a diseased man -- a man horribly disfigured, insane, and violent. Before Kirk can get any useful information from this man, he dies. Noises draw the landing party to one of the abandoned buildings, where they discover the terrified girl, Miri. Meanwhile, Spock and the two security guards search the ruins outside. They hear children, and are pelted with debris, but they never actually see anyone; the feral children, who call themselves onlies, know the area too well, and are too canny. Talking to Miri, Kirk learns how the grups became ill and insane, burning and killing, and the onlies had to hide from them until they all died. McCoy realizes that a plague struck this world, and killed most of its people. And then, on Kirk's hand, Miri finds a blemish. Kirk has the disease that killed the grups. Soon enough, everyone has it except Spock. McCoy begins to work, bringing a biocomputer and electron microscope from the ship. Spock discovers research dating back three hundred years; there was a project, with the goal of prolonging life. But a miscalculation annihilated the adults, leaving only the children -- children who contract a fatal disease when they enter puberty. Within a week, all of the human members of the landing party will succumb; sooner than that, they will go mad. Later, Rand, now infected with the disease and crying, seeks comfort in the arms of Captain Kirk. Miri witnesses this and becomes jealous of Kirk's attention to her. Then, the communicators disappear. By accident, McCoy discoveres the organism responsible, and succeeds in isolating a substance that might be the vaccine. But without the ship's computer, it's impossible to be certain -- or to know the dosage. Kirk persuades Miri to help him, by revealing the secret the landing party had kept: that she, and all the children, would get the disease. And that the youngest would starve long before that. She takes him to Jahn, the next oldest child, who leads the onlies. After a scuffle, Kirk makes the children realize they're doing what the grups did -- hurting others. Returning with the communicators, Kirk finds Spock and a security man at McCoy's side. The doctor, in a move of desperation, has injected himself with the vaccine. He is unconscious, perhaps dying ... and then the blemishes begin to fade. The vaccine is a success. The Enterprise departs, leaving a medical team in charge of the children, who will soon receive the care they need. Log Entries *''Captain's log, stardate 2713.5. In the distant reaches of our galaxy, we have made an astonishing discovery: Earth-type radio signals coming from a planet which apparently is an exact duplicate of the Earth. It seems impossible, but there it is.'' *''Captain's log, stardate 2713.6. The building Miri led us to also housed an automatic transmission station, which sent out the signal that drew us to this planet. We also discovered something else: that the blues splotches, characteristic of the unknown disease, had appeared on each of us, with the exception of Mr Spock. There was a well equipped laboratory in the building. Dr McCoy took tissue samples of each of us, in an attempt to isolate the organism responsible.'' *''Captain's log. Dr McCoy's biocomputer and a portable electronic microscope have been beamed down from the Enterprise. They will be used in conjunction with computer banks on board ship.'' *''Captain's log, supplement. It's the second day of the seven left to us. We've found nothing. Enterprise is standing by with its labs, computers, ready to assist us. There's no data, no stopping point.'' *''Captain's log, stardate 2717.3. Three days, seven hours left to us. Investigation proves that the supply of food left in the area is running dangerously low. Unless something is done, the children will starve in a few months. In addition, the disease is working on each of us according to Dr McCoy's prediction. Our tempers are growing short, and we're no further along than we were two days ago.'' Memorable Quotes "Bonk! Bonk! On the head!" : - children "No Bonk! Bonk!" : - Kirk "Is this the vaccine?" "That's what the computers will tell us..." "Without them... it could be a beaker full of death..." : - Kirk, McCoy, and Spock "No, I don't feel all right! None of us feel all right!" : - Kirk, to Miri, trying to explain the grave situation in which everyone on the planet finds themselves "Measuring the planet now, Captain... Spheroid shape. Circumference, 24,874 miles. Mass, six times ten to the 21st power tons. Mean density, 5.517. Atmosphere, oxygen-nitrogen..." "Earth ..." : - Spock and Yeoman Rand "You'll have to isolate the virus. Then you two can make a vaccine." "Is that all, Captain? We have five days, you know." : - Kirk (to McCoy & Spock) and McCoy "Back on the ship I used try to get you to look at my legs... Captain! Look at my legs!" : - Yeoman Rand, to Kirk "Is he dead, Mister Spock?" "I Will never understand the medical mind." : - Galloway and Spock, after finding the unconscious Doctor McCoy "Miri... she really loved you, you know." "I never get involved with older women, Yeoman." : - Yeoman Rand and Kirk Background Information *This episode's title is not only the shortest in the original series, it is also the only one that is rendered on-screen in italics. *In the final scene, Kirk refers to "Space Central," another early name for Starfleet Command. It's reused in "Amok Time" in another guise, as Vulcan Space Central. Cast * John Arndt (Fields) was a regular extra; he also played unnamed crewmen in "Dagger of the Mind" and "Space Seed" and Sturgeon in "The Man Trap". When Arndt appeared in "Balance of Terror", his character was named Fields. * Jim Goodwin's character, Lt. John Farrell, was referred to as a "communications man" by Harry Mudd, and Magda learned how to contact the miners on Rigel XII from him. After being a navigator in "Mudd's Women" and "The Enemy Within," Farrell is at the communications section in this episode, his final appearance in the series, although he still wears the gold command shirt. * Melanie and Lisabeth Shatner are the daughters of William Shatner and Gloria Rand. * Steven McEveety is the son of director Vincent McEveety. * Scott Whitney is Grace Lee Whitney's son. * Darlene and Dawn Roddenberry are the daughters of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. * Phil Morris, son of Mission: Impossible star Greg Morris, would later appear in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. * Keith Taylor replaced Rusty Stevens on Leave it to Beaver as Beaver's new plump friend, Harry. * James Doohan (Scotty), George Takei (Sulu) and Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) do not appear in this episode. * It was on the Friday night end-of-the-week party after filming this episode that Grace Lee Whitney (Janice Rand) was sexually assaulted by a member of the show whom she identifies only as "The Executive" in her autobiography "The Longest Trek". She was fired soon after and her descent into a very messy life began, which she eventually recovered from and became a Jewish Christian. * The security guards simply disappear during the middle of the episode. David Ross reappears after McCoy tests the vaccine. John Arndt can be seen in the background in the final planet scene. Probably to save make-up costs, neither one of the guards has any blotches from the disease. Story * The hook - a planet that is not only Earthlike, but also an exact copy of Earth - never really figures into the plot. (Compare Hodgkin's Law of Parallel Planetary Development.) Presumably, an Earth duplicate was used in this episode simply because it would have been prohibitively expensive to create an entirely alien culture. Nonetheless, this plot point has led to speculation, mostly in the form of fan fiction, about how this planet came to be. This is also discussed in William Shatner's book Preserver. Sets and props * If not the first, this is one of the first episodes to feature location shooting. * The planet-side exterior sets are the exteriors from The Andy Griffith Show, redressed. * This is the first appearance of McCoy's portable biocomp, which he will use later in "The Omega Glory". Yeoman Rand uses a piece of equipment that is possibly the portable electron microscope requested from the ship. This can be seen in later episodes, as well -- in fact, it strongly resembles the device Scotty uses when he is controlling the view screen playback in "The Menagerie, Part I". * The alley in which Spock and the guards have debris dropped on them will be seen again in "The City on the Edge of Forever", when Kirk and Spock are accosted by the policeman. * Kim Darby was much older than thirteen or so when she played this role (she was 19), which was probably why she wore such baggy clothes. * DeForest Kelley displays a feeling of sad reverence as he gently handles the abandoned tricycle on the planet. Effects * The signal coming from the planet can be heard in The Outer Limits episode, "The Man Who Was Never Born". * The Earth sphere model from this episode is reused later in "Shore Leave" (painted green and printed backwards) and "Arena" (painted a hazy orange). Stock footage from this episode of the ''Enterprise'' orbiting "Earth" is reused in "Assignment: Earth". * The planet has the exact same geographical configuration of its continents as modern Earth, only without any clouds (clouds were later added in the "Remastered" version of this episode). * This is not only the shortest episode title in the original series, but it is also the only title that is rendered onscreen in italics. However, the end credits are not in italics, and the font style seen there was never used again. Production history * First draft: * Final draft: * Airdate: * US LaserDisc: April 1985 * Japan LaserDisc: * VHS 2nd release: - ISBN 6300213161 * Region 1 DVD 1st release: * Region 1 DVD 2nd release: * Remastered airdate: Links and References Main Cast * William Shatner as Kirk * Leonard Nimoy as Spock * DeForest Kelley as McCoy * Grace Lee Whitney as Rand Guest Stars * Kim Darby as Miri * Michael J. Pollard as Jahn * Jim Goodwin as John Farrell * David L. Ross as Galloway (Security Guard #1) * John Arndt as Fields (Security Guard #2) * Irene Sale as Louise * Keith Taylor as Chubby Little Boy * John Megna as Jahn's Friend * Ed McCready as Boy Creature * Kellie Flanagan as Blonde Girl * Steven McEveety as Redheaded Boy * Eddie Paskey as Leslie (uncredited) Extras * Melanie Shatner as Brunette Girl (in Black Lace Dress) * Lisabeth Shatner as Little Girl (in Red-Striped Dress) * Scott Whitney as Small Boy * Jon Dweck as Boy Who Stole Phasers #1 * Scott Dweck as Boy Who Stole Phasers #2 * Phil Morris as Boy in Army helmet * Darlene Roddenberry as Dirty-Face Girl (in Flowered Dress) * Iona Morris as Girl with hat * Dawn Roddenberry as Little Blonde Girl * Mike Miles as McCoy's stunt double References Bartlett Stable; Biggs' Toys; biocomputer; distress signal; foolie; grup; Life Prolongation Project; microscope; Miri's planet; nitrogen; onlies; oxygen; Palmerton Cafe; Rusk Hotel; vaccine; virus External Links * Category:TOS episodes de:Miri, ein Kleinling es:Miri (episodio) fr:Miri (épisode) nl:Miri (aflevering) sv:Miri (avsnitt)